Movement-plate for watches, clocks, and the like.



No. 891,097. PATBNTED JUNE 16, 1908 w. PORTER. MOVEMENT PLATE FORWATCHES, CLOCKS, AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.11, 1907.

THE NORRIS PETERS 50., WASHIIGTDN, o, c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILSON E. PORTER, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT ASSIGNOR TO NEW HAVEN CLOCKCO.,

OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

MOVEMENT-PLATE FOR WATCHES, CLOCKS, AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1908.

Application filed November 11, 1907. Serial No. 401,700.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILSON E. PORTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Haven, in the county of. New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement inMovement-Plates for Watches, Clocks, and the Like; and I do herebydeclare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawingsconstitute part of this specification, and represent 1n Figure 1 a viewof a movement-plate showing it after it has been subjected to pressurein accordance with my invention preparatory to punching its pivot-holes.Fig. 2 a sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line ab of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 a view on a corresponding scale showing the same part after ithas been punched to form a pivothole through the hardened and thin areain the plate.

My invention relates to an improvement in movement-plates for watches,clocks and the like. Heretofore such plates have had their pivot holesformed either by drilling or punching, drilling being resorted to inhandling thick plates and'drilling or punching in handling thin plates.The drilling of each pivothole separately is so time-consuming that itcannot be employed in cheap work, while it has been found not feasiblein practice to punch holes in plates thicker than the diameter of thepunch. To obviate the difficulty last mentioned it has been customary toremove by a sweeping tool a portion of the metal at each point to bepunched so as to reduce the thickness of the plate to the diameter ofthe punch. The operation of sweeping out portions of the platepreparatory to punching the same is, however, not only expensive, butalso one of extreme delicacy as the sweeping tool must be accuratelymade and kept accurately adjusted in order that its workmay be uniform.

The object of my invention is to avoid the objections above recited andto produce a movement-plate of superior character without resorting tosweeping it preparatory to punching it.

With these ends in view my invention consists in a movement-plate forwatches, clocks and the like, the said plate having one or more hardenedpivotbearings integral with the body of the plate but thinner than thesame, and each having a pivot-hole.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown, I subject the plate topressure in lines at right angles to its plane to" form isolatedhardened areas 2- set below the outer surface of the plate and thinnerthan the body of the same, these areas being circular in form andsurrounded by slightly elevated rims 8 produced by the setting back ofthe metal, as it were, under the action of the tool used to compress theplate. It will be understood that these hardened area s coincide withthe pivot-holes required, the center of each circular hardened areabeing coincident with the axis of the pivot. Portions of the platehaving been reduced in this way to a thickness at which it is feasibleto employ a punch, the plates are punched in the ordinary way by punchesset to perforate the centers of the hardened areas. In this way I securea pivot-bearing 4 having a pivot-hole 5 which 1s formed in a portion ofthe plate integral ing witnesses.

WILSON E. PORTER. l/Vitnesses I GEORGE D. SEYMOUR, CLARA L. WEED.

